In order to study the influence of cross?fracture on the mechanical properties and damage modes of deep shale, and better understand the damage evolution law of shale containing cross?fracture under high temperature and high pressure coupling, 15 groups of shale models containing cross?fracture with different inclination angles were established, and simulation experiments were carried out to study the stress?strain relationship, damage evolution and acoustic emission characteristics of the shale specimens. The results show that the compressive strength and modulus of elasticity of shale are negatively correlated with the inclination angle of the main cracks, and show an upward concave trend with the increase of the inclination angle of the secondary cracks, and the compressive strength of shale decreases significantly when there are cracks perpendicular to or close to perpendicular to the loading direction; the damage modes of shale specimens under the influence of cross?cracks are mainly divided into "X"?shaped damage, diagonal "N"?shaped damage, diagonal "W"?shaped damage, inverted "V"?shaped damage, damage along the main crack, "V"?shaped damage and "λ"?shaped damage; the fractal dimension of shale specimens is negatively correlated with the inclination angle of the main crack, and as the inclination angle of the main crack decreases, the value of fractal dimension tends to increase, and the corresponding damage pattern of the specimens is more complicated and the internal damage is more intense.